Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Darnell Washington is a fan favorite. Drafted in 2023 as a primarily blocking tight end, this year Washington is becoming a bigger part of the passing attack. While he is no Pat Freiermuth, Washington has been successful when targeted, catching 10 of his 11 targets for 91 yards and a touchdown this year.
Washington saw the biggest game of his career last weekend against the New York Jets, catching four passes on four targets. This is both the most targets and receptions in a game for his career. On The Mike Tomlin Show on the Steelers YouTube channel, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin was asked if Washington would be a significant part of the game plan for the rest of the year.
“The misdirection pass component is,” Tomlin told host Bob Pompeani. “It just complements the run so well. He is such a significant component of our run game, that it makes only good sense to infuse him in the misdirection passing game as a compliment. And I thought he did a really nice job.”
Pittsburgh has attempted use play-action often this season, but it was at its most successful under QB Russell Wilson. Wilson is great at selling the fake, and in turn allowed the Steelers play-action game to flourish last week. Steelers Depot’s own Alex Kozora did a break down of Wilson and the Steelers play action game against the Jets.
This increases success of the play-action game should spell more Washington catches, as all four of his grabs against the Jets came off it. As Tomlin said, a big reason for that is Washington’s blocking ability. At 6-foot-7, 264 pounds, Washington is built like an offensive lineman. He was drafted to be a run blocking tight end and he is good at it. He has helped open holes for RB Najee Harris and on the season has a PFF run blocking grade of 52.2.
The Steelers have been successful targeting Washington, and if the play-action game and rushing attack continue to improve, Washington will have more chances to run in open grass.
